A WOMAN who endured a night of freezing temperatures lying in a ditch was saved from almost certain death after being discovered by a police dog.

The dramatic rescue occurred after the 48-year-old was thought to have slipped as she walked her dog close to Hersham Village Golf Club on January 5, the day heavy snow began to fall.

The Hersham resident was found by police dog Hood in a drainage ditch running alongside the railway line more than 24 hours after she was last seen, with dog handler Andy Mansbridge digging a hole with his hands and feet to reach her.

The woman had no shoes or gloves on, was suffering from severe hypothermia and had been shredded by brambles.

Police said it was unlikely she would have survived had she been discovered much later.

Pc Mansbridge said: “We went out to search the golf course at about 12.30pm on Wednesday and after three hours Hood raised his head towards the railway embankment.

“It was because of this that I managed to find the woman there, where she was unconscious and suffering from hypothermia.”

Despite being able to see the woman, an 8ft-high chain link fence prevented the officer from reaching her, forcing him to burrow a makeshift tunnel to the other side.

“I could not get over the fence so I dug a hole with my hands and feet,” he explained. “It had to be a big hole as I’m not small.

“When I reached her she was deep in brambles and quite badly shredded and she had no shoes or gloves.

“She did not seem able to speak.”

Challenge

Pc Mansbridge was assisted by another officer who had walked along the railway line near Hersham station, and the woman was carried out to an ambulance and taken to Kingston Hospital where she remains.

The whole operation lasted around 40 minutes. It is not known what happened to the woman’s pet.

Pc Mansbridge said the woman was lucky to be alive and paid tribute to the work of his dog, a six-year-old German Shepherd.

“If she had been there for many more hours she almost certainly would have died,” he said.

“I probably would not have found her without Hood.

“It was his indication for that area that made me go over there.

“Their noses are better than ours.”

He added that he would advise walkers to stick to paths during wintry conditions and seek help if their pets wandered off.

Elmbridge neighbourhood inspector Richard Haycock said the rescue had been the major challenge for the borough’s police during an otherwise quiet snowy period.

“She was inside a fence towards the railway embankment which posed quite a challenge for us getting her out,” he said.

Insp Haycock added that the snow and icy conditions had led to a drop in crime.

“When we cannot use the roads, neither can the criminals, so fewer people come out to commit crimes,” he said.